A Pocket of Coins And Then You Wanna Be My Friend?
by Kawaii Kenni
Summary: Pre Water 7. The Straw Hats receive a new crewmember, and to Luffy's joy, he is a musician. Zoro is suspicious of his background, and when he hears of the trouble in Alabasta, things are only made worse. Please review, so I know what to do later.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It had all started with Gold Roger. Upon his capture, and then, his public execution at Logue Town, he had revealed that his treasure was all for the taking, and he had left it in the Grand Line. This treasure went by the name of "One Piece", and was sought by many a pirate, for whoever would find the treasure would be proclaimed the "Kaizoku-Ou", or the "Pirate King".

Many had tried and many had died, on their quest to find One Piece. Great pirates, like Don Krieg fell to the might of the Grand Line.

However, there was one boy who would search out to find it, not letting anything stop him. This boy was Monkey D. Luffy, a boy inspired by his pirate friend, "Akaigami" Shanks.

When Luffy was only six years old, Shanks and his crew had lodged at Luffy's home town, Fushchia Village. When Luffy was seven, the small boy tried to convince Shanks to let him come along with them, by stabbing himself under his left eye. However, Shanks still would not let him go, because he was sure the small boy would merely go overboard and drown.

It was around this time that Higuma the Bear, the mountain bandit, tried to pick a fight with Shanks, over taking the last of the alcohol, at a bar they were lodging in. An enraged Luffy ate an odd, purple looking fruit, while this was going on, and when he tried to storm out of the bar, Shanks tried to stop him, by clutching onto his arm, only to find that Luffy's arm stretched. Lucky Roux, the rather obese man of Shanks' crew, then realised that Luffy must have eaten the Gomu-Gomu no Mi (the Gum-Gum Fruit), of the legendary Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit), meaning he was just like rubber, and as a side-effect, he could never swim again.

It was then, that afterwards, Higuma and little Luffy had a brief fight, in which Luffy was thrown into the sea. Higuma was then eaten up by a sea monster, who came to get Luffy, next. However, Luffy was saved, by who else but Shanks, at the cost of Shanks losing his left arm to the monster.

The next day, Shanks left port, with his crew, and lent his straw hat to Luffy, telling him to return it to him, upon becoming a great pirate.

Ten years later, Luffy had grown into a gangly seventeen year old boy, and had continued his adventure to become Kaizoku-Ou, in having defeated many great pirates, with bounties on their head, as well as gathering a mighty crew.

First, there was Roronoa Zoro, his first mate, a Santoryu Kenshi (Three Sword Style Swordsman), a nineteen year old who wanted to become the world's greatest swordsman, to realise his dead friend's dream. Next, there was Nami, their navigator, and a natural thief. However, her thieving ways soon stopped, on the defeat of her former boss, Arlong.

During the recruitment of Zoro and Nami, Luffy had defeated three people, already. "Iron Mace" Alvida, Captain Morgan of the Marines, and Buggy the Clown.

The third of their crew members was Ussop, a natural born liar, and coward, with exceptionally large nose, a fitting characteristic for him. The enemy of Ussop's recruitment era was Captain Kuro, of the Kuro Neko (Black Cat) Pirates, a man who showed no care for his men, and thought of them as expendable pawns. After the defeat of Kuro, Ussop became the crew's sharpshooter due to his good sniping skills. This was a skill earned from his father, Yassop, who was incidentally in Shanks' crew.

Next on the list, was Sanji, a cook from the Baratie ship. Sanji's past was plagued by starvation, and as a result, Sanji was intolerant of any mistreatment of food, or manners in regards to food. Sanji was a man who believed that hands were meant for cooking, and thus, he used his feet to fight. An interesting quirk about Sanji was that he was a chain smoker, a cigarette almost never out of his mouth, and yet his food was always taintless of tobacco and nicotine.

The villain of Sanji's time was Don Krieg, the man who had many armies of pirates as his crew, most of which had been wiped out upon entrance to the Grand Line. Krieg had tried to get Zef- Sanji's former boss- to hand over his logbook, something useful for the entrance of the Grand Line.

Luffy had finally defeated Krieg, through many trials, as Krieg often used explosive weaponry to kill his enemies. It was then that Luffy had to defeat Arlong, Nami's villain. It was revealed that Nami had made a deal with Arlong to make one hundred million Berries- the name of the currency- to buy Kokoyashi Village back from Arlong.

Luffy, a firm believer that nakama (friends/team-mates/crewmembers) should be treated properly, promptly defeated Arlong in a gruelling fight, before he and his nakama set out to the Grand Line.

After much trial and error, the crew made it, and were greeted with Whiskey Peak, and a new temporary nakama, Vivi Nefertari, daughter of the King of Alabasta. Vivi was involved in Baroque Works, an organisation, many of the members being people who had also eaten Akuma no Mi. During this time, Luffy and crew, otherwise known as the Straw Hats, journeyed through Whiskey Peak and Little Garden, beating Baroque Works members.

It was then when Nami got ill, that the Straw Hats stopped at Drum Island, and met their fifth member, Tony Tony Chopper, a small reindeer boy, who had eaten the Hito-Hito no Mi, a fruit which turned into a half-breed, between human and reindeer.

Next, after having Chopper join as the doctor of the crew, the Straw Hats journeyed onwards to Alabasta, where one of the more rogue members of the Shichibukai (Seven Armed Seas)- seven ruthless pirates with high bounties on their head, controlled by the government- was holding power. This man was Crocodile, a man who betrayed the Shichibukai, by breaking the agreements made by it.

The other known members of the Shichibukai are Juraquille Mihawk, Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Bear and Jinbei. Mihawk was the man proclaimed to be best swordsman in the world, and beat Zoro mercilessly, hoping Zoro would be able to beat him one day. Jinbei was in charge of Arlong, and Doflamingo killed his underling, Bellamy.

It was during the Alabasta trials, that Nico Robin, the latest crewmember arrived, to be the general knowledge for the crew, as she was an archaeologist. Robin was a woman, who had a bounty on her head, since she was eight, and had eaten the Hana-Hana no Mi, which allowed to sprout new hands on any solid surface.

It was then that the Straw Hats toured through Jaya, where they encountered Bellamy, and Skypiea, an island in the sky, where the main man to beat was Eneru, a man who ate the Goro-Goro no Mi, and could control lightning.

Then, the Straw Hats faced a challenge in the form of Davy Backfight, a game among pirates, where certain events were performed, and crewmembers were placed under bet. Finally, after briefly losing and winning back Chopper, in two games, Luffy and Foxy, the person who started the game, had a boxing match, which Luffy finally won.

Now, the Straw Hats take a rest, after this experience, only to find that they have a new member to welcome.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One- We Are, We Are, Still On The Cruise!**

It was a sunny day, without a cloud in the sky, a usual day for the Straw Hats. Very rarely did they find such a boring day with bad weather. Zoro was currently whetting the most valuable of his three swords. It had not so much financial value as it had sentimental value, as it was Wadou Ichimonji, the sword that had originally belonged to his dearest friend, Kuina, before she died by falling down the stairs. He remembered how she actually died, which was to get her whetting stone, and gave a sigh.

Luffy noted it was a nice breeze, today, as his treasured straw hat started to blow off of his head. He held it down, firmly onto his black bush of hair, looking overboard, hoping to spot a good fish to catch for food. He hoped one would come soon, as he felt a storm coming, the wind getting stronger, the air getting more humid.

Instead, he saw a small lifeboat floating in the sea. It seemed to be rather unstable for a proper lifeboat, especially with a large brown thing making the boat almost sink, and he looked up to the skies, to see rain starting to fall. "That ship better get to land soon, or that ship ain't gonna float for long." He muttered, not one to usually be quiet like this. However, this odd demeanour was shattered, as he shouted out to the ship. "HEY! YOU BETTER GET TO LAND, SOON! A STORM'S COMING!"

Nami slammed the door to her cabin open, the look upon her face showing she was more than just a tad annoyed. "What are you yelling about?" Her voice sounded bitter, because she had just been about to mark on a new spot on her map, when Luffy shouted and made her scribble the line across the paper.

Luffy pointed out towards the small lifeboat on the sea. "I was just saying that a storm-" "I know! I know! I heard you loud and clear the first time!" She gave Luffy a whack on the head, to illustrate her frustration.

However, Nami's foul mood did not last long, as a bolt of lightning came from the sky. She looked to see Zoro getting up to go inside. Zoro was never actually scared of storms. He just preferred not to be outside when they were going on. Plus, his swords probably would get rusty from surges of water splashing onto the deck.

Sanji came rushing out from the kitchen, a tray of food all set out. "Nami-swaaaan! You shouldn't stay out here in the rain!" He spoke, with concern framing his voice. He stopped his rambling about his beloved "Nami-swan" getting inside, as he noticed what Luffy and Nami were actually looking at.

The lifeboat had been hit by the lightning bolt, and Luffy was sure he had seen the passenger inside go flying into the water. This was then confirmed by small squeals of "I can't swim! Someone, please, help me!"

Luffy was quick to act, and using no planning or forethought, just pure impulse, he jumped onto the railing of the Going Merry, outstretched his arms and made them overlap a couple of times, before making his hands meet again, making a ring-like shape. With a call of "Gomu-Gomu noooooo...", he thrust his outstretched arms to the person in the sea.

"Fishing!" Whilst catching the person in his improvised life-preserver, he finished his attack name, with the first fitting word he could come up. He reeled in his arms, thus bringing the small boy he had just rescued on board. He grinned, and unwound his arms, letting them shrink back into place. "You're safe now!" He bellowed, cheerfully, not taking too much notice that the boy was coughing up what water he'd swallowed.

Nami, however, was quick to take action. Or, at least, if you can call commanding Sanji to get the boy a drink of water "taking action". Sanji, of course, was quick to obey, and came back with some pure tap water, as opposed to the salty stuff their new little passenger had gulped down.

As the boy gulped down the water handed to him, the three crewmembers took the chance to look at him. Nami noted that the boy looked about seven years old, and like Sanji, noted that he seemed to have cat features. Although, compared to what they had seen before, that was not too much of an oddity. After all, they _did _have Chopper, and this boy had more human characteristics than he did cat ones.

Luffy, however, seemed to be more interested in the fact that the little one he had reeled in was wearing a straw hat identical to his own. "Hey!" He called, to get the child's attention. The seven year old looked up at Luffy, and his eyes widened. Almost shattering the glass of water, as he dropped, the little one latched onto Luffy's leg, with a squeal of "PAPA!"

Sanji and Nami jumped back, their arms splayed out, in sheer surprise. "Wha-wha!" Nami stammered. "Luffy has a child!" She almost screeched the words, with how much shock she had just experienced, from that first single word their new passenger had said. In the same manner, Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth, due to how wide it had opened.

The young newcomer nestled his head against Luffy's leg, lovingly, babbling on about how he was reunited with his Papa, and how he had something to give him, before he stopped, with two blinks. "Hey, wait a minute. You're not my Papa!" He pointed an accusing finger at Luffy, as he immediately ripped himself from Luffy's leg. "So, why do you have his hat?"

Admittedly, it took Luffy a long pause, for him to add two and two together, and even then, he still only made it three. "This isn't your Papa's hat- Shanks gave this to me." The small cat-boy pounced on Luffy, thumping him on the back. "Liar, liar, liar! Papa would never have given you his hat!"

Nami took the young boy into her arms, quite literally to get him off of Luffy's back. "Hold on a minute." She soothed, stroking the little one's back to calm him down. "Are you saying that the Shanks that Luffy knows is your father?" The little boy nodded, frantically. "Hai, hai!"

Luffy shook his head. "That can't be!" He denied. "Shanks never had a wife, so there is no way he could be your dad!" Sanji put a hand to his face, rather exasperated. Surely even Luffy knew about children born out of wedlock. Chances were he probably was one, himself! Nami hesitated, unsure if she should explain it for Luffy.

"Umm, Luffy? Some children don't have married parents." She said, blankly, not too sure on how to put it. The small cat-boy in her arms gave a little sigh. "Hai... Papa left Alabasta the day after he and Mama had me. Then, I got sent off to _that _place." He whispered the last sentence to himself, yet everyone else heard him.

"That place?" Sanji asked, nervously, hoping he would not upset the boy, no matter how furious he was to see his Nami-swan holding him so affectionately. "I don't want to talk about it!" The kitten-boy squeaked, hiding his face away from them. Nami felt some tears drip onto her shirt, and hugged him close to her. "There, there... You don't have to." She reassured him, not liking the idea of having an upset child on her hands.

Luffy, dense as he seemed to be, thought it best to change the subject. "So, what's your name?" He asked, in an excited tone, wanting to cheer the newcomer up. The little lad sniffled, and looked up at Luffy. "Torashi Pikaken." Nami, catching onto Luffy's plan, beamed, to get Pikaken to smile. "Pikaken is a cute name, but I think Kenni sounds a little more normal. What do you think?" Little Kenni nodded, in agreement, not wanting to say anything.

Nami, however, continued onto a subject that made Sanji a little uneasy. "What if you stayed with our crew? Would that be alright, Luffy?" Sanji was then relieved to hear Luffy say that he was unsure about that.

Luffy looked down at Kenni. "What do you do?" He asked, wanting to know what position the boy could take on the Going Merry. "I'm a practising musician." Kenni replied, making Luffy's eyes widen, and then bring a grin to his face. "You're in! You can be our musician!" He bellowed, thumping the small child on the shoulder, enthusiastically. It was no secret among the Straw Hats that Luffy had always wanted a musician in his crew, because "pirates have to sing", as he had said, the first time he revealed he wanted a musician.

Kenni smiled. He was going to be a musician, and a pirate! He would finally be able to realise his dreams, and- He paused, feeling a little awkward. He jumped onto the railing of the Going Merry, to look at the wreckage of his former boat, to see it had sunk. "M-My instruments!" He screeched, in disbelief. "Don't tell me they all sunk to the bottom of the sea!" Tears had sprung to his eyes, in the anime form, of pendulums, dangling from the eyes. He gave a sigh, and took a fife out from his belt. "Well, I suppose I still have you, Anta-chan." He nestled the fife to his cheek, still looking a bit teary from seeing all his instruments go to waste.

Nami looked at Luffy, her eyes darting from him, to the water. However, Luffy still did not get what she meant, so it took an actual hit to the head, and command to get Luffy to use his new "Gomu-Gomu no Fishing" technique, to fish out the instruments from the water. Admittedly, it took Luffy only a few minutes to get things like Kenni's trumpet, violin, cello, recorder, and other such compact instruments out of the briny deep, but it took a couple more minutes, just to get out the brown thing he had seen make the boat unstable. However, he thought it worth the effort, as he loved the idea of having a piano, to sing along to.

And so begun the latest mishaps with the Straw Hats, and Luffy's much-desired musician. However, the Straw Hats were blissfully unaware of the troubles awaiting them, because of this new arrival.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two- A New Voyage Begins! A Mysterious Organisation!**

It had been a few days since Kenni had joined the Straw Hats as the musician. He had marked his territory, having put his piano in Nami's cabin. Nami was only too pleased to have it in the corner of her cabin, because this meant Kenni could play for her, in private.

The morning was showing to be pleasant, so it seemed to be a promising day as far as weather was concerned. Sanji had just made breakfast for everyone. Well, almost everyone. Two plates had been left empty, on other side of Nami's. One belonging to Zoro, the man to which Sanji had taken a great disliking, and the small musician. He had hoped that this would discourage the two of them from sitting next to his beloved Nami-swan.

As Luffy and Ussop immediately started to dig into their food, there was a small snap in Sanji's head, as he heard a slurping noise from the both of them. His eyes narrowed. "How dare you slurp on your food." He gripped onto his cigarette, between gritted teeth, and displayed his stunning ability of being able to kick his leg up into a swift ninety degrees. "Anti-Manners Kick Course!" As a result, both Ussop and Luffy were sent flying.

A giggle from young Kenni made the "love cook" turn straight around, ready to glare at him about laughing the dinner table, when he saw that there was food on his plate. "Where did you get that?" He looked to Nami's plate and saw there was some less food than there had been originally. "Aha! You're a thief! You stole food from my beloved Nami-swan's plate!" He gave the boy a close-up frown, his large and rather odd eyebrow, shaped in a swirl at the end, now visible.

Nami swiftly smacked the blonde on the head, giving him her own frown. "Don't jump to conclusions, just because you're jealous of him!" Sanji was a little taken aback. "I gave him food from my own plate. Just because he's getting attention from me doesn't mean you can starve him of food instead."

Meanwhile, little Kenni had just accepted the food from Nami, waiting for her to finish talking before he could thank her. He dropped his fork, in the sauce that Sanji had whipped up, spilling some of it onto the table. Sanji was just getting ready to use his "Anti-Manners Kick Course", when Nami gave him a glare that said "You do, and you shall die."

Sanji was quick to divert his attention, as he noticed Ussop and Luffy ready to fight over the last piece of sliced meat. He stabbed his fork into it, and frowned at the sharpshooter and captain. Soon, a fight had inevitably broken out, to which Nami narrowed her eyes in somewhat disgust, Zoro just sat by and gulped down some rum, and Kenni gave a small giggle, covering his mouth with a clenched up fist, or paw, in this case.

Nami gave a sigh, and a shrug of the shoulders, before resolving the three-way conflict. She took the fork and offered it to little Kenni. "Care for the last piece?" She backhanded Luffy, across the face, as he tried to stretch his neck, to get the piece of meat.

* * *

Robin, who had missed breakfast, was still reading in her little private place on deck. She had gotten through only three books, a slow morning for her. She couldn't help but think that there seemed to be trouble ahead of them. She just could not understand why she felt like this. The day seemed to be starting out very jolly, but could it turn sour, in a flash? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud chuckle from Luffy. Captain-san had apparently heard good news. She stood up, and strode over to them, her arms swishing limply from side to side, as she walked. "What's going on?" She asked, a casual smile upon her face.

Luffy was grinning from ear to ear. "Land-ho!" He let out a great cry of joy, and hopped onto his favourite perch on the ship: The ram's head figurehead on the bow. He pointed enthusiastically to the island they were nearing, then paused. Was that a cruise ship he could see? It said "Alabasta" on the side, and he grinned. This could mean fun.

* * *

A blue haired girl, wearing this light blue hair in a ponytail, took in a deep breath of the air around her, and held out her arms in relaxation. This was Vivi Nefertari, the princess of Alabasta, which explained why there was a ship from Alabasta at this island.

Waves started to come in, as a ship approached land. Her eyes widened as she realised it was the Going Merry. She ran up to where the Going Merry was going to drop anchor, and waved up to the Straw Hat crew.

Luffy was giving a wide smile, and watching the others greet Vivi again. Sanji had greeted her with his usual fashion of greeting pretty girls: An eye or two turning to hearts, and springing out. The blue-haired princess looked a little confused, as she saw there were two new members to the Straw Hats. "Who are these, Luffy?" Her voice sounded a little distasteful, as she felt like she had met Robin before.

"I'm Miss All Sunday, if you don't remember me, Miss Wednesday." Vivi stared, incredulously, then turned to Luffy, demanding to know why he took her in, when she had been the partner of Crocodile.

Luffy just shrugged. "She asked to join, so I let her." Vivi gave a sweatdrop, thinking that she would never understand this fellow. She turned to Kenni, and smiled a sugary smile. "And who's this?" She cooed.

Little Kenni bent down on one knee, in a sign of respect, and held one paw in a curtsying manner, taking one of her hands in the other paw. "Greetings, Princess Nefertari. My name is Torashi Pikaken- How may I serve thee?" With that he kissed her on the hand, in the gentlemanly manner.

Vivi could do nothing but giggle, at this show of respect. It was quite heart-warming to see someone respect her as a princess, even if they were not of Alabasta blood. "Just Vivi is fine, you know." She said to him, kneeling down to his level.

Nami looked to her little musician and gave a smile. She knew what Vivi did not, that Kenni in fact was an Alabastan. He had told them, already, that Shanks had conceived him in Alabasta, after all.

* * *

She had invited the Straw Hats to a dinner at a restaurant nearby, to talk things over. "I'm glad I found you again. My father wants you to help us again. There's an organisation by a name of the Akumi, short for "Akuma no Mi", and it's using Alabasta as a base from which to construct their plans."

Little Kenni raised an eyebrow, lifting a mug to take a drink, and to hide his expression. He looked a little scared.

Luffy, on the other hand, was all but worried, or anxious, or any of those emotions. He punched a fist into his other palm, in a sign of determination. "Then I'll just have to destroy it!"

Kenni's reaction to this was the only one possible, when having taken a drink. A spit take. It was not a nice thing to do, but given the circumstances, it could be slightly forgiven. Not by Sanji, however, since the drink had gone all over his jacket.

"Are you insane?" He stared at Luffy, a look of sheer disbelief in his large red eyes. "The Akumi is a very dangerous organisation! If you try to defeat anyone in it, you will die!"

Zoro turned to the little musician, a look of suspicion on his face. "And how do you know about this?" At this, the small one faltered. "I, umm, I heard about it when I was little?" He suggested.

Now, Luffy was curious. "Hey, yesterday, you said something about a place you were sent to." He leaned in close to the boy, and gave him the curious eye.

"I-I-" He gulped, and started to cry. "Okay, okay! I'm a part of it, okay?" He whimpered, and turned away from them, not caring that he was making a scene. "That's why I am what I am! The Akumi turned me into this!" With that, he pounced from his chair and stormed out of the restaurant, weeping.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three- Another Return of Buggy the Clown! A Battle of Hands!**

After their musician had just stormed out of the restaurant, crying, the Straw Hats had responded in a usual fashion. That is to say, that they did nothing at all, at first, then felt a twinge of guilt, before going to look for him.

* * *

The small runaway had finally stopped, the running having gotten too much for him. He sat down and hugged his knees, sobbing into them. He was too busy sobbing, to notice a certain group of figures, one of which was a lion, and two of which were very odd in appearance. 

One of the odder looking characters put a gloved hand to his roughly shaven face, just grazing the large red nose, which made him stick out like a sore thumb. "Well, well, what do we have here? Why, if it isn't old Straw Hat!" He spat out the words, with distaste.

A rather slender looking woman- a woman who had been a fat old hag, before eating the Sube-Sube no Mi- who went by the name of "Iron Mace" Alvida, tapped Captain Buggy on the shoulder. "Um, Buggy? If that _is _Straw Hat, then he certainly has shrunk some."

Buggy the Clown looked down at the crying child, who turned to look at them, and gave a sweatdrop. Indeed, it was _not _Straw Hat, but some kid with red hair, who wore the hat. Buggy frowned, with a growl, all the same. This kid reminded of that dog, Shanks. Especially with the red hair.

"Alright, kid, just who the hell are you?" He bent forward, so he was at eye level with Kenni, and gave him a penetrating glare, just daring him to talk.

Teary-eyed Kenni blinked the tears away, and took a good look at Buggy, leaning in closer, assaying him with squinty eyes, then poked Buggy on the nose. "Whee! A clown!"

Buggy jumped back, red in the face, more infuriated than embarrassed. "NOBODY TOUCHES MY NOSE!" He yelled, his jaw opened very wide, so you could see the way his teeth had turned temporarily jagged with the rage.

Kenni blinked, brushed a hair back into place, and beamed, his eyes closed. "But it's so big and red and shiny!" He replied, happily. This was a big mistake, to say that Buggy had a big nose. Buggy was very sensitive about his clown nose.

"BIIIIIG?" He roared, having such a loud volume to his voice, that it echoed. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU'RE AS ANNOYING AS THE PERSON YOU LOOK LIKE! THAT RED-HEAD SHANKS!"

Kenni's eyes widened, and he jumped onto the clown, tugging at his feather-boa, enthusiastically. "You know where he is? Tell me, tell me! Please tell me, funny clown man!"

Buggy was almost about to punish this insolent brat, when he realised that the reaction to the name "Shanks" was an uncanny resemblance to the one from Straw Hat, that kid called Luffy. "So, you want to know where Shanks is, huh? Well, maybe I do know where he is, and maybe I don't." He was playing the same teasing game he had played on his first encounter with Luffy.

And just like Buggy had said the same thing as before, the answer was the same as before. A blink from the young boy, and a "What do you mean? Are you stupid or something?", to which the same reply of "Watch your tongue, boy!" was given.

Buggy stepped back, and cleared his throat, trying to regain what dignity he had left, while his crew- a unicycle-riding acrobat by the name of Cabaji, a beast-tamer, by the name of Mohji, whose hair resembled that of his lion, the lion, Richie, and Alvida- all watched on, sweatdrops on their heads.

Kenni just looked at Buggy, with a slightly annoyed expression. "Well, do you know where he is, or not?" He liked clowns, and all, but this one was getting to be very annoying. Plus, he seemed to smell a bit.

Buggy gave a grimace, remembering how Shanks had "ruined him", by coming up behind him, and surprising, which made him swallow the Bara-Bara no Mi, thus making Buggy's plans sink like he now would, if he were to go in water. It was no secret that anyone who ate one of the Akuma no Mi would sink, not being able to swim.

"Of course I don't know where that red-headed hound went to. Nor do I really care! May he die in a whirlpool for all I care!" This was now a mistake on Buggy's part. He had insulted Shanks.

"What did you say?" Kenni sounded perfectly happy, perhaps a bit too happy, but the somewhat sinister grin on his face gave it away completely. "Would you care to repeat that? Reiterate? Run that by me again? Let me hear it nice and clearly?" He stood up, and came a little closer. "Would you care to die for saying such a thing about Papa?"

Buggy was taken aback. That hound had had a pup? Well, this explained the red hair and fondness for wearing a straw hat, at least. "Shanks is your father, you say?" His eyes narrowed, almost coming two green circles, as the painted green rings around them almost engulfed them. "Well, if that's the case, then how come your precious Daddy left you all alone in the world?"

Buggy had done it again. However, this time, he had uttered a taboo, about Shanks leaving Alabasta.

This time, though, Kenni did not react. This time, he froze up, tears springing back to his eyes, and he knelt down, holding his arms, giving a small whimper. Buggy took this chance to kick the small boy across the ground, and readied his arm.

"Bara-Bara Hou!" His hand shot from his arm, like a piece from a model kit, leaving no sign of amputation. There was no blood, or anything. It was as though he was a wooden figure. As usual with the Bara-Bara Hou technique, Buggy had knives in between his fingers, ready to impale this brat pup of Shanks.

Kenni saw the knives shoot towards him, and winced, with a squeal for help. He winced and felt something appear on his shoulder, but it did not seem to hurt. He opened one eye, and saw a smooth feminine hand sprouting from his shoulder, holding Buggy's gloved projectile.

"Are you okay, Musician-chan?" A familiar voice came from behind. Kenni turned round to see Robin, the hems of her velvet coloured shirt floating in the breeze, in the cool hero fashion. Behind her was Vivi, who looked relieved to have found the young musician, but she also looked like she was near laughter, at the sight of Buggy the Clown.

Robin, however, was not laughing. As Buggy tried to pull his hand back to his arm, Robin's sprouted hand let go, and dissolved from Kenni's shoulder.

The little one gulped and looked up to Robin, stammering. "H-How did you do that?" At this, Robin gave a bit of a smile, and made three hands sprout from the ground. "I ate the Hana-Hana no Mi, which gave me the ability to sprout extra hands from anything solid."

Buggy gave a growl, glaring at the two new arrivals. "Who the hell are you?" He spat at Robin. "Are you one of the pup's friends? Or are you just a meddling person, trying to get in my way? Or maybe you're just a thief trying to steal what is mine!" With that, he fired another Bara-Bara Hou, using his other hand.

Robin raised her hands to her chest, and crossed them over each other, closing her eyes. From the ground burst five hands, one sprouting from the palm of another, until the last one, on top, grabbed hold of Buggy's wayward Bara-Bara Hou. "Cinco Fleur," was all that Robin muttered as she counterattacked thus.

Buggy gave another snarl, and was about to retaliate when he saw another one of Robin's hands sprout from his shoulder, and advance towards his neck, ready to use the "Strangle" move. Buggy's eyes widened, and he uses his defensive counter.

"Bara-Bara Kinkyuu-Dasutsu!" The "Emergency Escape" technique made Buggy look like a child's game, in which a toy pirate in a barrel has plastic knives slotted in, until the pirate's head would pop up out of the barrel. As Buggy's head sprung from his shoulders, he gave a cackle.

Robin gave an annoyed sniff, and turned to Vivi. "Vivi? Take Musician-chan back to the ship. I want to face this man alone." Vivi nodded and scooped the small one into her arms, rushing into a sprint. Giving chase was Cabaji on his unicycle, his sword bared.

Kenni was blushing bright red as she held him close and looked up to her. "Princess Nefertari, should you really be holding me in such a way!" He asked, bouncing up and down a little, as Vivi kept running. The ponytail-haired Princess looked at him, with a rather exasperated expression. "Now may not be the time, but just call me VIVI!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the Going Merry, Luffy and the others had given up, not too sure where their musician could have gotten to. Nami was furious at the others, for not having been able to find him, but she cracked down especially on Luffy. 

"Luffy, how could you pressure him into talking about the Akumi like that? He obviously felt bad about it!" She slapped him across the face, and turned away, fuming. Her sour look disappeared when she heard a cry for help, which sounded like Vivi.

Zoro smirked, as he heard the voice of the swordsman Cabaji. "Looks like he wants some more. He must be a glutton for punishment." He stood up, and strode outside, swords unsheathed.

As he stepped out onto the deck, he saw Cabaji chasing Vivi and Kenni towards the ship, his sword pointed in the way he had done so, when he was trying to perform "The Sting of the Unicycle". Zoro gave a grin. "No Buggy to help you keep them still this time, circus performer!" The green haired man jumped to the ground, taking his haramaki mask from his arm, and tying it onto his head.

Cabaji froze. "Zoro! You are here!" His surprise turned to a grin. "Well, perhaps I should show you my new tricks, then." Zoro just stood there, unafraid, watching Vivi and Kenni run back into the ship. He then placed the hilt Wadou Ichimonji in his mouth, and placed the two other swords- Sandai Kitetsu and Yukibashiri- in a vertically parallel position behind the blade of Wadou Ichimonji.

"Toraaaa-" He charged, with both swords swinging over his head, clashing against Cabaji's bared blade. "GARI!" All three blades collided, and Cabaji's single sword was no match for a Nitoryu move. As the sword shattered in two, Cabaji looked at the remains that he had left to fight with.

"Perhaps I should _not_ show you my new tricks today." With that, he immediately cycled off, back to Buggy.

* * *

Meanwhile, things had gotten tough for Robin. Buggy had used the Bara-Bara Festival, to split himself into many pieces and pin Robin to the floor, rendering her almost helpless. Every time she sprouted a new hand, Buggy would split more of his body up, to keep a hand occupied. Meanwhile, Alvida had pulled her iron mace, which had gotten her the name "Iron Mace", and had thrown it in Robin's direction, hoping it would hit. 

"Gomu-Gomu noooooo... PISTOL!" A familiar cry rung through the air, as a stretched out arm flew towards the mace, punching it out of the way. Both Buggy and Alvida gave a grin. Straw Hat was here? This was going to prove to be fun.

* * *

"That was fun!" Luffy chuckled, dusting his hands off, Robin following behind him. "You put up a real good fight, from what I saw!" He turned round and gave the thumbs-up, with his trademark grin. The two of them had just come back from their fight with Buggy and Alvida, and had been victorious. The two Akuma no Mi eaters were coming aboard again, to be greeted by the sound of music, and the smell of food. 

It was a party, in celebration of their musician, having come back safe and sound. The music, of course, was coming from Kenni playing on piano, and the food had come from Sanji's cooking. Kenni seemed to be trying to write a new song, the other Straw Hats suggesting certain lyrics. It could be noted that lots of balled up pieces of paper were lying unwanted on the floor.

Kenni, with a pencil balanced by his left cat ear, to keep it safe- much like other people would put a pencil behind their human ears- was currently going through his chorus line, before screwing up the piece of paper, and throwing it to the floor, with the rest of the balls of paper. "I can't think of anything!" With frustration, he ruffled his hair, the pencil falling to the floor.

* * *

By now, the song had been written, and to celebrate, the Straw Hats were all having a sing-along, using that very song. They had called it "We Are", because of the last line in the chorus. After Ussop had just his sung his part of the verse, the gang had all joined up in the chorus, until Luffy belted out his solo line, one he had suggested himself. 

"A pocketed romance! And then you wanna be my frieeeend?" As it was in his nature to be loud and verbal, he found it necessary to hold the note on "Friend".

Upon the finish of their song, the party resumed. Ale was guzzled down, meat was torn between teeth- mostly Luffy's- and sea shanties were sung. All in all, the welcome of the musician to the Straw Hat crew was a warm one. The night promised to be fun, up until bedtime.

* * *

Nami had just tucked the small fifer into bed. To be truthful, it was not so much a bed, as it was a bunch of sheets and a blanket, with a pillow to rest one's head upon, however, this was the best there was to offer. With a smile, she gave him a peck on the head, wishing him a good night. As she was about to leave, she heard a little whimper from the little one. She turned back to see what the problem was. 

"I can't sleep well. It's not because of what I'm sleeping on, though. I just- I- I need a little story to get me to sleep." He looked down, almost ashamedly. However, Nami did not seem taken aback. Instead, the craft thief girl had an idea.

* * *

"And so my ten thousand men had been lost at sea, and it was just me on the shore, having to face not only a vast amount of cannibals, but also a huge goldfish! It was enormous, so enormous that it could eat you whole in one gulp!" Ussop was deep in telling one of his stories, to try and get Kenni to sleep. However, the plan was not actually going well. Instead of soothing the little boy, it was just further scaring him. "Well, to make a long story short, I killed all of them, the end!" He nodded, his long nose waggling with his head, before slamming the door behind, having left the room after his ending. 

Little Kenni, still not able to get to sleep, looked for someone to keep him company. Finally, he found Robin, in her little reading corner, a lamp on, so she could continue reading. She noticed his presence, and turned her head.

"Musician-chan? Why are you here?" She asked, a note of curiosity in her voice. "Did Long-Nose-kun's story not put you to sleep, like Navigator-san planned?" The answer was obvious, but she felt that she should ask. She furthered another question. "Would you like to stay here, and listen to me read you some myths from my books?"

Robin was not very used to children, seeing as, previously, Chopper had been the youngest one there, at the age of fifteen. She would have offered to read him a bedtime story, but she knew of none, and amongst her many books were none of the fairytale genre. Therefore, she had to make do with some of the myths and legends she had in her archaeological books.

Opening the nearest book on myths near her, Robin noted that it was full of Greek myths, and that they may hold scary parts. She was not too sure what to censor for the little one, so she chose the tamest one she could find. It was about how Atalanta, the goddess who would race any man who swore love to her, lost her first ever race, and became a happily married woman.

By the time she had finished, she looked up towards the small bundle of blankets and sheet in front of her, and smiled. He had fallen into a deep sleep, while she had been explaining some of the customs of the Grecian people. She turned back to reading her books, and anyone who had been watching would have seen a sprouted arm wrap around the small child, in a protective fashion. "Sleep well, Musician-chan."


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four- Zoro Has Thoughts: Can the Musician be Trusted?**

It was the morning after the brief re-encounter with Buggy, and nearly all was well. The sun was shining, the waters were calm, and everything looked to be turning out great. The swordsman Zoro, however, was not feeling good on this day. Things were on his mind, such as suspicion, mistrust, and every feeling he had felt when Robin had first joined their crew.

He could not think of how the others could take their newest crewmember in so warmly. After all, there had already been two times in which the young one had given off a dark aura, with his association with the organisation called Akumi, whatever it was.

He had already talked to Luffy about this, knowing it would never have had any good outcome. The only reply from Luffy was that their ship needs a musician, and that Kenni had wanted to join their crew, anyway, so he let him.

Nami had helped the situation slightly, but only to get Zoro to stop being so ill-tempered about Kenni. She had suggested that, in the morning, Chopper could give him a small check-up. If, indeed, he had an Akuma no Mi, then Chopper would definitely be able to tell.

* * *

The small reindeer man gave a thoughtful murmur, looking up at his new patient, sitting on the table before him, his shirt off. He trotted over to a drawer and took out a small hammer- one with which a doctor would test a patient's reflexes- and tapped Kenni's knee with it. The reaction was within a nanosecond of the hammer hitting, Kenni's leg shooting up and sending Chopper flying. 

The little Zoan style Akuma no Mi eater looked up at Kenni, still a bit dizzy from the kick to the face. "That was incredible! Your reflexes are faster than those of a normal person. There cannot be any doubt about it- You have eaten at least one Akuma no Mi. This would explain your cat features."

Kenni nodded, a small sad smile across his face. He looked away from Chopper, out a conveniently placed window. He never liked check-ups with a doctor, because this was always the reaction he would get.

Chopper continued, whispering a little. "You can talk to me about it. What sort of fruits did you eat? I ate the Hito-Hito no Mi, myself. I'm guessing you ate something like a Zoan fruit, as well, like the Neko-Neko no Mi?"

Kenni gave a little sigh, tears coming to his eyes again. "I guess I can't just keep hiding it. Promise you won't tell the others?" He asked, hopefully. He wanted to tell them himself, when he was ready.

Chopper made a zipping motion across his mouth. "As a doctor, I must always comply with doctor-patient confidentiality." He smiled, reassuringly. For a small creature, he was very wise at times.

"Very well," Kenni nodded, gratefully. "As long as you don't tell the others, I shall tell you. When I was born, Papa left port, and Mama was heartbroken. She raised me, like a normal mother, before one day, they came."

"They?" Chopper interrupted, not too sure if he should have or not, considering where the story seemed to be going. His reply from Kenni was a small nod, and the word "Akumi".

"The Akumi is centralised, deep in the Grand Line, where they believe the most Akuma no Mi grow. And with these fruits growing nearby, they take them, to experiment with them, to make new fruits. I don't know what their true objectives are, but I just know that they use all sorts of people and animals to experiment with these fruits."

"So, the Akumi took you away from your mother, to experiment on you?" Chopper ventured, hoping he was not assuming too much in one go. He was very wise for a doctor, and thus, he was wise to people's feelings as well.

Kenni nodded once more. "Yes. I was taken from my mother, and forced to eat the Neko-Neko no Mi: Koneko Model, and the Pika-Pika no Mi. That's why I look like a kitten, and why I am very fast."

Chopper seemed rather interested now. These fruits were new, and they were being made by an organisation. However, he was also interested in what these fruits could also make Kenni do. "Could you give me some examples, of what you can do with these fruits of yours?"

Kenni looked away, embarrassedly. "I shouldn't. It would be like showing off." However, after a coaxing from Chopper, Kenni agreed.

* * *

Chopper tossed the pebble he had found in the air a couple of times, before clutching it tightly. "Do you think you could hit this rock, when I throw it, like so?" On the words "like so", he chucked the pebble as far as he could.

With a small "Maybe", Kenni pounced from the deck, in a flash of light, before appearing a split second afterwards. "Was that okay?" He asked, nervously.

Chopper was in awe. "That was amazing! What do you call that? Do you have names for your attack, like most of us here do?" It was true that everyone in the crew named what techniques they could, whether an Akuma no Mi eater or not. For instance, there was Ussop and his "Boshi" techniques, with a slingshot, or Zoro and his beast names, like "Onigiri", or "Toragari".

"Well, I don't like to name my attacks that much, but I think I call that one the Pika-Pika Bullet." He took out a roll of paper, that was so long that it reached not only the floor, but went a good few centimetres across it as well. "Yes, that's the Pika-Pika Bullet." The sight of such a long list made Chopper give a sweatdrop.

Zoro was just watching all of this, keeping a very close eye on their little musician. Something was odd about him. It wasn't the fact that he was a cat person. Zoro had definitely seen much weirder by now. It was something more ominous.

* * *

"Do you see anything, knave?" The owner of the voice seemed to have a majestic tone to it, the stereotypical voice of the posh British aristocrat. To go with this voice was a man donning a suit of armour, a white moustache and beard, and an old man's countenance, the sort you would associate with WWII pilots, the sort of man who would burst out with "Tally-Ho, you Nazi riff-raff!"

A young lad with a telescope in hand, and a rather tubby body, nodded, flabby cheeks starting to wobble about. "Yessir! Pirates nearing us at the port bow!"

The "knight" man fondled his moustache, before standing up. "Very well! Set course for the port bow!" He turned around, to the direction he had been given, pointing a finger. "Cast sail!"


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five- The Sparks Fly! Fist vs. Kick!**

There was an awkward silence, as the breeze flew by. "Why are we not going?" The "knight", who was apparently the captain of the vessel, asked, bemusedly. A subordinate appeared beside him and whispered to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Say that again." He took out an ear trumpet, showing just how old fashioned he was. He held the instrument to his ear, paying no mind to the tremendous amount of ear wax on it. It was his own wax, after all.

"Umm, Captain, there aren't any ships in that direction. There is, however, the ship of one Monkey D. Luffy, if they interest you. Their vessel is in front of us, from the starboard bow."

The knight man eyed the fat boy who seemed to be his navigator, in a rather annoyed fashion. "Starboard bow, you say?"

* * *

"I don't know how I have you as my navigator, when you can't even tell starboard from port." He muttered, twiddling his moustache, annoyed. The telltale lump on the fat boy's head was a sure giveaway to what had just transpired. "Anyway, you say that it was the crew of this Flunky B. Roof fellow? Who's that again, what-what?"

"That's _Monkey D. Luffy_. You know, the rubber man pirate with one hundred million Berries on his head?" The subordinate was a little surprised that their captain did not know of Luffy, especially when he had beaten Crocodile. "He beat one of the Shichibukai?" He prompted.

"Oh, him! That little riff-raff who beat Alligator." "Crocodile, Captain." "Yes, yes, hoity-toity man, I believe, thought he was better because he was like Captain Hook."

Both the subordinate and navigator gave a sweatdrop each, at how senile their captain was, and just hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of the Straw Hat pirates. Or, more likely, they hoped he wouldn't embarrass _them_ in front of the Straw Hat pirates.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Straw Hats had finally let their anchor down, and were getting off. This island was a pit-stop for them. Luckily, for some of them, it was a nice beach island, perfect for sunbathing, fishing, and all sorts of leisurely activities.

Nami, Robin and Vivi had just dressed into their swimming costumes, Sanji had just started drooling over the trio and Kenni was blushing bright red, and looking away, when they all noticed the inhabitants of the ship beside them board onto the island.

"Oh, oh, oh- Don't mind that you have the fearsome White Knight pirates behind ye, knaves! Just go about your business, dressing in your skimpy bathing costumes, trying to seduce us. Well, I should let you know that it won't work on us! Agree with me, fellows?" He puffed his chest out, looking to his subordinates. The one who had told him about the Straw Hats was there, but where was the podgy little navigator?

"Get away from us!" A repulsed Nami shrieked. "What the hell are you, anyway? Some weird dog thing, or what?"

It should have been noted earlier that this chubby little boy had dog features, much like Kenni had cat features. He looked a lot like a little pug, and in fact, had the same facial features of one, which explained why Nami was disgusted by the sight of him.

Meanwhile, Kenni blinked twice, looking at the pug-boy, before realisation crept into his head. "YOU!" He screeched, pointing a finger at him.

The entranced dog boy snapped out of his rather shameless and lustful reverie, to look to Kenni's direction. His expression turned a little uglier, as he recognised the musician. "Oh, crap, you're here?" He spat at Kenni's feet, showing how much respect he held for the little redhead.

Vivi looked from one little boy to the other. "You two know each other?" "Sadly enough, we do." Kenni replied, quickly turning to the dog lad, looking smug. "Ha, beat you again! I was first to answer! I always was faster than you, Pug-Face!"

"Pug-Face" scowled. "Yeah, well, at least I'm bigger than you, Fur Ball ." To illustrate this point, a paw was pushed down onto Kenni's head, forcing him down a little. The forceful arm was slapped away by Kenni's own paw, with a little "Nya" of annoyance.

"So, what brings you and Grandpa Walrus here? To get me, I suppose?" Kenni muttered, bitterly.

Walrus hemmed, more than a little miffed, as he would put it. "My name is Sir Walrus Flippersdale of the Flippersdale family of knights, thank-you very much! And as a matter of fact, young Torashi, we are indeed here to take you back. The Akumi is extremely displeased."

Whilst all this was going on, the other crewmembers of the Going Merry were poking their head over the railing, to see what was going on. Luffy, naturally, was first to speak. "Hey, what's going on, you guys?"

Walrus looked up towards the Straw Hat wearer and smirked. "Ah, you must be this Manky de Loofah fellow I've heard about. Strange, I thought you would be a lot more intimidating, but instead, you're a mere boy of common riff-raff."

Luffy just stared, blinked a few times, and spoke up again. "What are you? Some kinda walrus man, or something?"

"That's _Sir_ Walrus Flippersdale, to you, lad!" A small vein throb appeared on Walrus' brow. He gave a little hem, to try and regain what dignity he had, then changed the subject back to Kenni. "Anyway, we are here to seize this boy, and take him back to the Akumi!"

Luffy's expression became firm. He wasn't about to give up any of his nakama, especially when it was his long awaited musician! "We ain't giving him up to you, so you can just go back to the Akumi, and tell them that."

Walrus twiddled his moustache, half in fury, and half in contemplation. "Very well. If you won't give him up by will, then you shall have to give him up by force. And what better way to do this, than to have a game of Davy Backfight?"

Luffy grinned, despite all the sour faces around him. "Yeah, that sounds like fun!" He beamed, not taking notice of Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Ussop and the rest all shouting "LUFFY!" Luffy then became all business. "But, if we win, what do we get from you?"

Walrus gave a proud smile, and a puff out of the chest. "Why, myself, of course! That is, if you win the last round, of course. In the first round, if you win, you shall get my trusted navigator, Pugsy de Pika-Kyaku."

"Don't I get a say in this!" Pugsy protested, then took a look at the three girls in their bathing suits. "On second thought, that may not be too bad."

Kenni glared. Pug-Face was staring at Nami-san, Robin-san and Princess Vivi with such naughty feelings. He spoke up, boastfully. "Okay, but if you win, you get me!" It was a rare sight to see a cocky Kenni, but in such a case- what with Pug-Face and all- the worst in him was brought out.

Walrus smiled, liking the sight of such competitiveness in young fellows. "Very well! We'll have a whizzing good first match between Pugsy and Torashi. How does a race sound? Positively marvellous idea, what-what?"

In perfect unison, the boys piped up with "Fine by us!", before starting to argue about who had said it first, rolling on the floor, wrestling.

* * *

Two lines had been drawn in the sand, marking the starting lines. It could be noted that Pugsy had drawn his line considerably further in front of Kenni's.

"Any reason why your line is out in front, Pug-Face?" "Because you're on the inside lane, Fur Ball." Kenni's eyes narrowed, giving off a snide, knowing look. "Nice try, Pug Face. You have the inside lane, on the island, anyway."

"Enough hoity-toity quibble, you two! Now, time for the rules for 'The Full Circle Race'. Once both contestants have reached the designated area, they shall continue to race, but fight each other while doing so. The first one to fall is the loser. If there are any disputes or foul words, the mentioned phrases shall be recorded, by my trusty subordinate, here." He gestured to his third crewmember.

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up, you old fart!" "Take that down!" Walrus spluttered, only to receive a nervous reply from the one meant to record the information. It appeared that there was no paper to write upon.

"Very well, we shall just have to remember and remind everyone we see of what has transpired. After all, many would like to know about what is going. Now, before we start, I just want everyone to know that I am 'an old fart'. Does everyone have that in their minds? Right! Then, start the race!"

The two boys immediately started to run, at what could be said to be a normal sprinting pace. Walrus followed on his trusty steed. This went on for a couple of kilometres, before Pugsy looked behind, having the cockiness to run backwards.

"You feeling tired yet, Fur Ball?" "No!" "Good, because I'm done running the boring human way!" With that, the rather obese boy sped up, the yellow aura of the Pika-Pika powers surrounding. Kenni gave a little smirk, before following suit.

Walrus let his horse trot to a halt, and turned to those watching the race. "Now, you can see that the two racers have sped up, using their Pika-Pika powers. Now, before I leave, I want you to all know, that I am an old fart." With that, he followed the two boys.

* * *

By now, the two boys had reached the area in which they were to fight. They- a bit too eagerly- took advantage of this, using the Pika-Pika Bullet technique. Kenni growled a little.

"That's my move!" He protested. "You stole it, Pug-Face!" With that, the two clashed, with their Bullets, standing face to face in the air, scowling at each other.

"Whine all you want! It's not like I'd care." He reeled back his fist, punching Kenni in the face. He watched Fur Ball perform a few back flips, to gain back some equilibrium, before he charged, trying to kick him. Pugsy grabbed the wayward hind paw, and sneered. "You're a crap fighter, just like your stupid, dead-beat father."

Kenni gave a cat-like hiss, his hair started to lose its shape, as it stood on end. "Shut up! Don't talk about my father like that ever again, you mangy mutt!"

Pugsy smirked. He had hit a sore spot. "Why the hell do you even care about him? He left you, and your lousy mother before you were even born!"

Kenni froze up. Any words that spoke of Kenni being abandoned always had this fact on him. His leg still in the air (from where Pugsy was holding his hind paw), he was starting to lose balance.

Seeing that his plan had worked, Pugsy hurled Kenni to the ground. "I WIN!" He bellowed, proudly, his small dog tail wagging with delight.

Walrus came to a stop, at Pugsy's side. "So, I see." He replied. "ATTENTION ALL WHO CAN HEAR ME! IF YOU CANNOT HEAR ME, DO SAY SO! PUGSY DE PIKA-KYAKU HAS WON THE FULL CIRCLE RACE, AND SO, TORASHI PIKAKEN NOW BELONGS TO THE WHITE KNIGHTS!"

Pugsy was still holding his ears at all the shouting. Kenni, however, did not care about the noise. Pug-Face had insulted Papa. Papa... The man who had left him and Mama, before he had even been born. He would die for that.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six- The Davy Backfight Concludes! The Newest Straw Hat!**

The remaining Straw Hats were waiting to hear the result of the Full Circle Race. They were disappointed to see that as Walrus rode towards them on his trusted stallion, the fat Pugsy was pulling Kenni along by a lead.

Luffy just gave a grin. "We can win him back in the next round! What's the next game?" He bellowed, towards Walrus.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." He took out his ear trumpet, and placed it in the dark caves which he referred to as ears. "Right, now, say that again, will you, old sport?"

"I SAID WHAT'S OUR NEXT MATCH!" He roared, right into the bell of the trumpet, making the old knight jump from his horse.

"Settle down, my dear chum! I say that our next match should be-" He murmured, thoughtfully. "Aha! We shall have the Rasen Ken Baton Ryu Duel. This involves using two swords to make a spiral, in a baton-like fashion, and must break the other person's swords."

Zoro gave a smirk. "Of course, I'll do this."

* * *

Walrus sat atop his horse, waiting for the Rasen Ken Baton Ryu Duel to begin. He spotted his first mate, the subordinate from before, readying his swords nervously. On the other side, he saw Roronoa Zoro preparing his two swords, Yukibashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, leaving Wadou Ichimonji sheathed.

The duel started, and finished almost in the same instance. Walrus gave a little smirk. Zoro had beaten the first mate, without any trouble at all. Twirling both swords like propellers, the green-haired swordsman had slashed directly through the opposing blades.

"Well, my faithful steed, I'd wager that we're up next. Oh-ho-ho-ho!" He snorted, with laughter, making his horse jump to the ground. The poor equine creature fell onto its hooves with a thud, kicking up masses of dust.

"As promised, since Roronoa Zoro won the duel, here is Torashi Pikaken, safe and sound!" With this, he tossed Kenni- leash and all- towards Nami. The Straw Hat's navigator was a little confused with having Kenni on a lead, but then saw the more positive sides to this.

* * *

"Now, the final game will be jousting! Pick out your loyal steed!" This command left Luffy stumped. A steed? What was that? He turned to Chopper.

"What's a steed?" "It's a horse, I think…" "But I don't have a horse." Luffy stated, pointing out the obvious.

Chopper gave this a little thought, before a light bulb flickered above his hat-covered head. "Aha! I can be your steed! I can use my Walk Point, to be your horse!" He beamed, happy to be of use.

Walrus had been too busy hoisting himself onto his own horse, to be bothered with this conversation. He looked to Luffy, atop of Chopper. It was strange, to see a boy riding a reindeer, but the remark Walrus made was somewhat weirder.

"My word, as an equestrian, you have an odd taste in horses, old boy. What's it called?" "Chopper!" "You filthy _swine_, you!"

Everyone from Sanji to Pugsy gave sweatdrops as they heard this last outburst.

"Well, no matter! We must get to ready to joust!" Walrus put his lance into the proper position. Luffy's response to this was to put his arm in the similar fashion.

"Three, two, one, and JOUST!" The two "steeds" charged at one other. Luffy's arm stretched back, while Walrus' lance trusted forward. Luffy's trademark "Gomu-Gomu noooooo…" could be heard, easily.

"Chain-Chain Final Charge!" The lanced seemed to be extending in mass, getting longer and longer. Chains could be seen being added to its end.

"LANCE!" Luffy finished, his stretched arm held outwards. The move was similar to the Gomu-Gomu no Kama, making a sickle like motion, however, the arm was thrust forward, instead of the Sickle technique.

When Luffy had used the Gomu-Gomu no Kama, on his first encounter with Buggy the Clown, the attack had not been successful. The Kinkyuu-Dasutsu had stopped Buggy from being hurt. However, this time, the effect was at its peak.

Luffy's "lance" had been his arm and fist. The arm thrust forward like a lance, and the point of the lance was his fist. The knuckles made contact with Walrus' neck, and even through the armour, the attack's strength had been brutal.

The old knight had been thrown off of his horse, and fell to the ground. The chains that had been growing on his real lance shrunk away, disappearing from existence. "Y-You win, boy. You have won me as your last prize."

* * *

The old man's laugh could be heard from the rooftops of the village nearby. "Ah, so what position will be I filling, my new fellows? Shipwright? Captain? Treasure Hunter?"

Ussop, Nami and Luffy all gave glares to Walrus, for trying to take their positions. Nami was first to come up with an idea. "No, I think we may have a better use for you, Walrus-san."

Considering the armour was quite heavy, it took both Sanji and Zoro to throw Walrus overboard.

"You can be our new look-out, Walrus." Nami smirked, in her minx-like manner. "Sayonara!" She joined the others in joining teasingly.

The old codger was very naïve and actually believed what they were saying. "Ah, then fare thee well, my crewmates! I bid thou-tachi a bon voyage!" He waved his clanking arm about, at the ship now leaving port.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven- A Trip to the Past! Waikyoku to Kashaku!**

"Must you leave already?" "I'm sorry, but I must. We have already stocked up, and we need to leave for the sea again." "But, we don't know what might happen, while you're gone."

The air was bittersweet, having the romantic foggy atmosphere one could only see in an old black and white film, in which the woman tries to get her love to stay. However, this time, the ending was not to be happy.

The man turned away, a bang of red hair blowing over his scarred face. The three slashes across his left eye seemed to sting a little, as a harsh wind blew across them. His right arm felt rather numb, while he felt nothing on his left arm. He no longer had to worry about anything happening to his left arm. He'd given it up, to protect someone, and it had been a worthy sacrifice. He had to wonder how the boy was doing. He hoped that he was keeping that hat safe.

The woman, having a long ponytail, similar to the one the young Princess Nefertari would grow in about five to seven years, shook her head. "Don't go. Please. What if something happens?"

The red haired man didn't turn back to the lady, but replied with his own question. "What could happen?" The blonde to whom he had made love the night before had a firm, and tearful expression on her face. "We could have a baby!" She howled, the waves reflecting her distress.

Shanks gave only one more reply, as he walked up towards his ship. Only one word crossed his lips, as he let his back stay turned to the future mother of his child. "Gomen."

* * *

The door fell off of its hinges, as three cloaked men had kicked it down. One was very small, not much taller than a dwarf, whereas another was about a head taller than the door. The final one, the central figure, stepped forward. "We've come for your child." 

The single mother stepped back, not wanting to comply. She held the small bundle of cloth close to her chest, protectively, not replying.

The larger figure stepped forward, and reached out a hand to take. The hand was abnormal, to say the least. It had a pale grey complexion, and looked almost dried up with dehydration. It was cold, bulky and very rough in texture. The mother found this out, by slapping it to no avail.

The central figure stopped forward, holding a hand up, to stop the larger one. "Stop. We need to keep the child intact. If not, we shall be killed for disobeying orders. Now, give us your child, woman."

When the woman still refused, the middle figure gave only one more reply. This was in the form of a flintlock pistol, the sort of gun a highwayman would use to make sure that his demands were met, and that his victims would stand and deliver. However, this was also an anomaly, as this gun had appeared out of thin air, into the hand used to halt the bigger figure.

When the woman desperately pushed past the figures, the small figure took in a large inhale, and gave a roar, his mere breath turning into a gale of wind that wrapped around the defenceless mother.

The middle figure strode slowly up to her, his cloak swishing over his feet every so often, as he took his steps. "We tried to negotiate, we tried to be civilised, but I'm afraid you give us no change anymore." He raised his pistol up towards her, and fired. It was over with that one click of the trigger.

* * *

A couple of years had passed now. The small child who so much trouble had been made over was waking up. His eyes seemed dull as he looked at his surroundings. It was all the same. Dank and dark walls, chains attaching him to them, nothing new. He gave a small sigh, and looked up, to see the bars of his cell. Two men stood by the cell, like palace guards- The Kishin brothers. 

These two brothers were not pleasant in either personality or physical features. Being identical twins, the Kishin brothers were reputed for vicious slaughters of those who opposed them. The duo comprised of one brother by the name of Waikyoku and the other by the name of Kashaku.

The small child looked to the backs of them, and gave another sigh. Waikyoku, meaning "Torture, distortion, falsification and perversion" was the more deceitful of the two. He was the one who had sneered and told the child he would be out soon. Kashaku, meaning "Torture", also- as well as "Extenuation" and "Maltreatment"- was the more brutal of the brothers, liking the thrills of killing in cold blood.

The small red-head looked past the guards, to another boy in his cell. He seemed to be trying to cause trouble. The red-head could hear the other boy calling to be let out. "He must be new." The boy muttered, his voice lacking emotion. However, he could feel sympathy and foreboding in his heart.

The two Kishin brothers looked to each other. They gave devilish smirks, and walked over to the opposite cell, with the young rebel inside. "So, you want to be let out, do you?" Waikyoku asked, giving a scar-faced sneer. "Very well, let's get you home, shall we?"

The naïve boy in the cell gave a nod of agreement, not understanding the tone Waikyoku was using, the tone of sarcasm. He just knew that the two men were going to take him somewhere.

The screams that came from the room down the corridor between the cells gave away the fact that he had been taken somewhere. He had been taken to Hell. They had added him to their list of victims.

The other boy, the one who had been watching from his cell gave a small sigh. "And yet another martyr." He said, with a tone that made it seem like he had no sincerity in his heart any more.

The two brothers returned to their post, the blood on their hands showing no doubt to what they had done. "You." Waikyoku turned to the boy in the cell. The boy who has soon to become the Straw Hat crew's musician.

"You- You're coming with us. It's time for your rite of passage. To go from being a normal worthless human, to a perfect being. One of the Akumi." Opening the cell, the boy was beckoned towards another door, opposite to the one the slaughter had just been in.

Inside, the room was just like the other cells. Dank and lifeless. Kashaku took Kenni by the arm and tossed him to the wall. As soon as he was shoved into the hard cold stones, Waikyoku took up two odd looking fruits. One went by the name of the Pika-Pika no Mi, and the other was called the Neko-Neko no Mi.

Despite the screams of torture that came, the fruits were forced into the boy's mouth, and were soon eaten like any other food, even if the method of eating was abnormal and cruel. It was all the same, when it came to the Akumi.

* * *

Yet a few more years had passed, by now, and the scene was set in what seemed to be a private music school. There happened to be yet another fight being broken up. 

The teacher gave a sigh, having taken the starter of the fight away. "Torashi-kun- Why do you always insist on starting fights with the other children?"

The small kid, who had now grown "tough", and had a few telltale scratches upon his face, spat onto the floor, and gave a scoff. "Those kuso musicians were asking for it."

"Oh, really? And what did they do?" "They were making fun of my music. And my looks." The lad tried to sound as though he wasn't that offended, and just annoyed, but the teacher could tell what was going on.

"Were they calling you a freak, because of your special traits?" He asked, benignly. Instead of a reply, he was punched in the face, by the wooden surface of a guitar.

"Stop trying to call it something different, kuso teacher!" The boy had learnt quite a few curse words from his days with the Akumi. He also seemed to have Sanji's old habit of using the word "Kuso" a lot, for an adjective.

The teacher did not mind being hit. He thought it good for the Torashi boy to vent his feelings thus. However, now, he looked livid. "Torashi-kun… I have tried to be understanding, but you must understand that musicians value their instruments above everything. A true musician never desecrates their instruments like that!"

The small boy seemed to have an expression on his face, which showed he wasn't completely sorry, but that he felt somewhat guilty for using music to hurt. The teacher looked at this expression and found that his own was starting to soften.

"Torashi-kun, if you feel you must fight, I believe there is a style you can adapt to. It involves the use of no instruments, and no hands, but it is still a way for a musician to fight. Instead, you use your feet.

Did you ever hear of the pirate, by the name of Red Foot? He used to be a pirate of immense kicking power. His feet would be stained with blood, hence the name. However, Red Foot did not use his hands, because he considered himself to be a cook. A musician is the same. All artists fight this way, to keep their precious art intact, whether they be cooks, musicians, or painters.

Well, now that you know our fighting secrets, would you like to learn the Musician Style?" The reply was a single nod.

* * *

Back in the real world, little Kenni was being shaken by Vivi, in an attempt to wake him up. "Kenni? Kenni? Get up!" Vivi sighed, before thinking up an idea of what to do. "Kenni! The Princess of Alabasta demands that you wake up now!" 

"Hai!" The young musician jumped up, waking up at her call, giving a salute as he did so. "What can I do for you, Princess Vivi?"

Vivi didn't look like she was joking. "There's no time to play around, Kenni. We're being attacked by more pirates." Taking his hand, she rushed him over to the side of the ship, where the others had gathered.

One look at the ship's flag and sail made Kenni curse. "Kuso… They're here."


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight: Torn Between Crews! Kenni's Decision!**

"They? Who are 'they'?" Luffy asked, with a look on his face that showed he was curious, but also excited to see just who they were anyway.

Kenni grimaced. "It's a ship from the Akumi. It's got the insignia." He pointed to the sail and flag of the approaching ship. Both were black, and had a skull and cross bones, with a piece of fruit that looked like an Akuma no Mi, speared on either ends of the cross bones.

The ship came ever closer, its sail and flag casting shadows upon the water, until finally, it reached the Going Merry. Three cloaked figures stood on the deck, one large, one middle-sized and one small.

"I believe it is your turn to kill." The middle figure spoke. It seemed that he was the central figure between the three of them. He and the small figure stepped back, to let the bigger one through.

"Yes, Revolver." He replied, in a low gravely voice. He held out two grey and dry looking hands, before clutching onto his similarly featured legs. It seemed that he was flying towards the Straw Hats.

'Could he have eaten a fruit to make him fly?' Chopper started to think to himself, looking for an explanation. He was not fond of things that were scary, let alone ones that could fly!

Zoro looked behind to see that they were close to land. "These bastards were planning this." He murmured to himself, before continuing in thought. 'First, they waited for us to get to land, then they attacked, so if we were to fight, we would be away from the water. If these guys really are Hammers, then they'll die in the water. Clever…'

Here, Zoro had used the term "Hammer". A Hammer was almost like slang for Akuma no Mi eater, because the fruits left you powerless in water, just like a hammer couldn't float in water either.

By now, the large figure had landed. The Akumi boat had disappeared, having already started to set sail, as the figure took flight. The large giant peeled his hood, to reveal a square head, in the form of a large boulder. It looked like his face had been carved in.

Kenni growled once more. "Kousoku." He said with utter distaste.

"So you remember me, then, boy?" Kousoku answered, in the same gravely voice. "Well, I guess you know why I'm here."

"Of course, I do, and I'm not going back there!" He was about to pounce and aim for a strike, when Sanji held him still. It took Kenni one look at Sanji's face, to see that he was telling him that fighting at the moment was a bad idea.

"If you're going to get rough, then we should go to land. No point in both of us dying in the seas, great beings like us."

Zoro smirked. "You mean, no sense in you two Hammers drowning." This was not the most tactful remark, but judging by the reaction on Kousoku's face, it had made an effect.

"Do not say that word again. We are not 'Hammers', we are gods!" He roared, before making himself calm down. It was hard for him to do so, but he managed to. "We shall take this fight to land, if you're so keen to die."

The trip had been very awkward, as there was a terrible tension between the crew and their "passenger". Kousoku had stayed eerily silent, throughout this, glaring acidly at Zoro in particular.

The Going Merry made it to land, and both Kenni and Kousoku walked frostily off of the ship, onto land, before facing each other. Kousoku made no move, standing literally as still as a boulder. Soon, Kenni had lost his patience.

Kenni charged towards the large behemoth, before launching out a kick, from his hind paw. A jump kick landed on the rock hard surface, making no effect. Seeing this, the young cat boy fell to his feet, and spun on the ground, sending his legs out and tripping his rocky opponent to the floor. But before impact on the ground could be made, Kenni's paw rocketed upwards, into what could have been Kousoku's spine, forcing him to stumble back onto his feet. Finally, Kenni somersaulted backwards, aiming a kick to the head, sending it flying off.

Both Usopp and Chopper stepped backwards, arms high in the air, as they screamed in fear. "Huwah!" Chopper squealed. "His head flew off!"

However, it seemed that the head was perfectly intact, floating in mid air. No sign of blood, no sign of pain. Kenni gave a grimace. "Kuso…" He muttered, with realisation.

"That's right." The disembodied head replied, still levitating in the air, although flying backwards, until meeting back with its body.

"The-There's no bl-blood!" Chopper stammered. "How can that be?" Robin was ignoring the fight at the moment now, more concerned with what Chopper was thinking about. How Kousoku could survive losing his head. Why there was no blood. The way Kousoku had managed to fly. It, then, struck her. The powers of the Bara-Bara no Mi.

"You're like Buggy, aren't you? You ate the Bara-Bara no Mi." "Yeah, that's right." "Then, that explains how you could 'fly'. You disconnected yourself from your feet, and picked them up, as you hovered the rest of your body over to us. Your cloak made the illusion that you were flying."

"But, that can't be!" Chopper squeaked. "There should only be one Akuma no Mi of each of the 108 types in the world! There's no way it can be another Bara-Bara type."

"That's right, little reindeer boy. But we don't follow those rules. We managed to replicate the real fruits, as well as make our own. There are 108 _original_ fruits in the world, but we have tons more of our own. Hence, you can call me the Bara-Ishi Man."

"A Bara-Ishi man." Zoro murmured with a sneer. "Is that your way of saying 'Hammer'?" Again, this was the wrong thing to say.

"WE ARE NOT 'HAMMERS'! WE ARE GODS!" With that, he launched a hand out at Zoro, in a similar way to Buggy's Bara-Bara Hou.

A hind paw was sent into the air, and deflected the rocky hand into the sea, making it sink to the bottom. "This is OUR fight!" Kenni snarled. "If you think you're so godly, fight someone at your level!" Drawing two sabres, identical, curved and similar in shape to the fangs of a tiger, Kenni charged towards the Bara-Ishi man.

While charging, he held the sabres in a position, like a tiger's fangs, poised to bite down on its prey. "Torashi no Hitonomi!" The young one shrieked, a battle cry filling the air, as the blades fell downwards upon Kousoku's shoulders.

The arms merely detached from what would have been their sockets. No sign of blood, nor any sign of effect from the attack. The arms hovered in the air- One flew back into place while the one still with a hand left clutched onto Kenni's body, before forcing the Pika-Neko into the ground.

As Kenni started to struggle up, the rocky hand still grasped tightly on his neck. In an attempt to free himself, Kenni placed his paws on the hand, trying to pull it off. He only succeeded in pulling it up towards his mouth, but he wanted it like this. Opening his mouth, he sunk his eye teeth, or his fangs, into the hard surface.

Kousoku let out a roar. It was the same as with Buggy. Even if the parts were separated, they still felt pain. This wasn't new to Luffy, as he had discovered this weakness when he himself had fought Buggy before.

As Kenni clung onto Kousoku's fist, he was sent flying into the ground, numerous times, each impact giving him a trail of blood on his body. After ten smashes into the ground, the little cat boy let go, before managing to struggle up onto his hind paws. Putting his forepaws to his belt and pulling out two identical sabres, he bared the swords to the Bara-Ishi man, before charging.

Kousoku smirked. "Those won't work on me. You should know bet-" He was cut off, as he saw Kenni leap into the air, instead of slashing at him. Thinking his miniature opponent was trying to slash his arms off, Kousoku then detached his forearms from their sockets.

"Perfect." Kenni purred, as he sent the tips of one sword through the rock of the forearm and into the upper torso, while plunging the other sword into the legs and lower torso, holding it there, with his hind paws, using the forepaw he had left to hold Kousoku's head still. "Trapped."

"That's it!" Zoro exclaimed. "That's why he bit onto him. To see if he could still stab into him. Now, he's stopped him from doing his splitting tricks. With the swords holding him in place, he can't detach himself to do any damage."

Usopp looked unimpressed, and even a little shaky, as could be expected of him. "B-But, that means he can't attack, either. His hands are stuck there, holding him still." However, Usopp's comment was about to be answered to.

A sickening sound could be heard, as skull met rock. Kenni had no other options of attack left, so he could only do one thing- A head butt. It didn't stop at one. He did it again, and then again, getting faster with each strike, not caring for the blood spurting from his forehead in doing so.

Robin's eyes widened, as she watched this, and Nami couldn't help but turn away, covering her mouth. Whilst people like Zoro had lost much more blood than this, in fights against people like Mihawk, this was merely a young child, inflicting pain on himself just to prove himself.

Watching Kenni, it was now apparent that he was becoming almost feral. Jumping from his current position, he hopped onto his fore paws, getting into a pose that Sanji could recognise as one he took when fighting with both his feet. Going from a handstand, into a leap, Kenni rose upwards, before latching his legs around the cold and rough neck of the Bara-Ishi man, falling back towards the ground, using his hands as support again. In the final part of his set-up, Kenni- with great effort- started to lift Kousoku up with his feet alone, before managing to hold another handstand, as well as holding his enemy up. The strain on Kenni was obvious to everyone, his face getting redder and redder…

SQUELCH!

Only one person didn't wince: Luffy. He knew whose fight this was, and he wasn't going to get involved, until his musician died, and he could tell that was not going to happen. It was his choice to what he would do, no-one else's.

The blood had splattered out onto the floor, before diminishing into little drops on the ground. Chopper was quick to explain what had happened, although very shakily, and looking pale, for a reindeer. "T-The pressure was too much to handle so quickly; too much pressure on a place where blood is already flowing results in something like that."

Kenni didn't care, however. He just continued his onslaught. Jumping into the air once more, a miraculous feat with a fully grown man made of rock on your feet, he started to rotate in the air, blood spiralling around similarly, getting faster and faster. Finally, as the two headed for the ground, the small cat boy started to roll in the air a few times, before slamming Kousoku's head into the earth.

"Pika-Pika Hurricane Shuuren."


End file.
